The weatherman who disappeared from TV screens
Mqondisi Dube | Tuesday September 26, 2023 06:00
For 17 years, Radithupa became the face of local weather reports on the screen as viewers fell in love with his unique presentations. But it has been more than two years since the popular weatherman disappeared from television screens.
He left the Department of Meteorology at the age of 55 when he still had at least five more years before reaching the civil service’s mandatory retirement age. “People might be wondering where I am.
I'm around my village in Serowe doing farming and also attending to village duties,” Radithupa tells The Monitor. “I really did not explain much when I left as I was a little bit disappointed and unhappy. This resulted in me not requesting a contract renewal although it was not at my discretion whether it would be renewed or not.
But at the end of the day, it was my decision not to request a contract renewal,” he says, without divulging much regarding the circumstances of his departure. After his frustrations, Radithupa packed his bags and headed to his native village where he is quietly enjoying life after the abrupt end to his long service to the Department of Meteorology.
“At the moment, I'm doing what is indirectly related to my profession which is agriculture. Although I do crops, mostly it's animal production. I feel I could have stayed a few more years and did justice to my profession. But at the most I am happily retired and doing my chores at home,” he says. Despite his popularity, Radithupa says he does not miss the screen. “But at times you feel for the profession and you wish you could be there to do things a little bit better; maybe to try and answer public concerns.
At times you feel the profession is going down and you could do a little bit better.” While he was popular with viewers, Radithupa cannot pinpoint exactly what won him the people’s hearts. “I'm not very sure what made me popular. But at times I think people wanted answers. The weather is very mysterious and people wanted to know about the mysteries of the weather itself. Sometimes (there are) climate change issues and how they relate with the natural variability of the climate itself,” he notes.
“Therefore, I was there most of the time to answer or do interviews and people would follow the interviews. I think that is how I increased viewership on my side. Basically, people want things to be explained and I took time to explain to them,” he adds. Radithupa explains how he joined the Meteorological department after he completed his Form 5 at Tutume McConnell College in 1984. “There was an advert in the Daily News requiring people who had done well in Science and Mathematics to attend a diploma course on meteorology in Nairobi, Kenya.
I didn’t know what meteorology was all about, but I was interested when I was told that you would be able to tell what the weather would be like tomorrow. That was actually the driving force.
I graduated as a Meteorological Technician II and joined the government in 1988. I started working as a technician at the airports and then we started broadcasting the weather on radio and then eventually television came in.” Radithupa went on to study an Honours Degree in Meteorology at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom, before returning home where he rose through the ranks and left the Department of Meteorology holding the position of deputy director.